


Of Tinsel and Nice Starts

by nerakrose



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coffee, Community: rs_small_gifts, Fluff, M/M, Office Romance, no war in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-10-18 11:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10616292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerakrose/pseuds/nerakrose
Summary: Mysterious clouds and strange coffee abounds. Office romance.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Knowmefirst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knowmefirst/gifts).



> AU where there's no war! Set right after Hogwarts. Thank you to mrs_jack_turner for betaing this for me. I hope you like it, knowmefirst!
> 
> Written for knowmefirst for the 2014 round of rs_small_gifts.

Remus blew on the surface of his tea; a monstrosity brewed up by the very enthusiastic new girl in the cafeteria. This particular tea was a mixture of black tea, melted chocolate and dried apple, with a pinch of lemon juice, and, Remus sniffed, perhaps some anise. 

He didn't have the heart to turn down any of her creations, so he'd taken this "tea" and was now blowing on it to cool it a little, trying to decide whether it actually smelled good or not - he liked the scent of anise, but the chocolate was perhaps not the best companion, and he was very conflicted about the dried apple bits bobbing up and down in the mug - and set it aside.

The next cubicle over was empty, which was unusual as Sirius liked to be on time. Remus frowned, then leaned over the wall to check that he wasn't hiding under his desk. It was known to happen, after all.

"I don't think these walls are made to be leaned on," Sirius said from behind. Remus whipped around and was met with a delighted smile. "Good morning. Trade you?" He indicated the mug on Remus' desk. "It's a bargain - I've mint coffee with something else slightly weird in it, and you have something that at least _smells_ inviting."

Remus couldn't help it, he smiled back. "Honestly I'm not sure what's more vile, but I'm in desperate need of caffeine. Double shot?"

"Triple, actually," Sirius said and swiftly traded mugs. "To your good health."

"And yours." 

Two moments later, just as Sirius had sat down, he was spitting out tea.

"I am genuinely sorry," Remus lied.

Sirius vanished the offending liquid entirely. "Perhaps we should invest in our own coffee machine. I hear the muggles have these wonderful things that make all sorts of delicious coffee and I _want_ one. Nay, I _need_ one."

"It'd be nice," Remus allowed. Then, because he did maybe feel a little bit sorry for Sirius, he offered to share half his mint coffee with him.

About half an hour into the revisions he was doing on the clause regarding unfaithful use of spruce twigs in certain potions (what. Seriously, _what_ , Remus thought, staring at the parchment), a little cloud appeared over the furthest wall of Remus' cubicle. It was white and fluffy and not at all menacing, and Remus did not notice it was there at all - that is to say, until the cloud started puffing out smaller, even fluffier clouds all over the place.

The walls between the cubicles weren't very high, and Sirius' entire head was visible just above the edge of the wall separating his and Remus' cubicles. Remus was indulging in what he liked to call a 'break', but which was really just code for 'has Sirius washed his hair today it looks extra shiny has he always had eyelashes that long yes he has you've been asking yourself that same question for years shut up and take a look at his lips instead' when it so happened that a tiny little cloud puffed its way across the wall of the cubicle and fastened itself in Sirius' hair.

At this point, the entire office was full of clouds. Some of them were glowing a little.

"What are these?" Sirius poked his wand at the tiny cloud, which had unfastened itself from his hair and was now happily drifting in front of his face. Nothing happened.

"A problem with the air conditioning, I think," Remus said, eyeing the massive amalgamation of clouds above his head. He made a distrustful noise. "They seem to… like me?"

Their cubicle neighbours were prodding the clouds. One person tried to fix them with a spell - it looked weather related, from what Remus could tell - but the clouds were largely unaffected. 

"Weather charm gone wrong?" Alfie, two cubicles over, wondered aloud. He instantly got roped into a very lively discussion about climate charms and the supposedly very dry air in this office.

Remus tuned them out. So long as the clouds weren't raining on them, he didn't care.

***

A paper airplane landed on Remus' desk. Inside was a rather simple drawing of what Remus surmised was himself (the scar across the nose was rather telling) and Sirius (great care had been taken in depicting his long and luscious locks) and what looked like pints of frothy beer.

Remus looked up. Sirius was leaning over the wall separating their cubicles, grinning in a way that suggested possible imminent unhingedness, or possibly just the unfortunate results of inbreeding (there was no telling most days). "Are you quite all right?" Remus asked.

"Read the rest of it," Sirius said, pointing at the note. He looked far too pleased with himself for it to be legal, in the middle of a work day like that. When Remus didn't move to unfold the rest of the paper plane, Sirius flicked his hand and it unfolded in Remus' hands.

Underneath the simplistic drawings was another string of drawings, these ones not making any sense at all.

"It's a rebus," Sirius told him excitedly. "Time and place for drinks!" And with that, Sirius vanished behind the wall of the cubicle and presumably resumed work on his _actual_ work.

Remus held the note up close, scrutinising it. There was what looked like a palm tree - or possibly a pineapple? Or maybe a person with a very unfortunate haircut. Hmm. There was a diagram, and a set of ancient runes, one item which had been crossed over completely, so Remus guessed it didn't count in the whole. Unless it was a black hole? Chaos, perhaps? 

He tacked the note to the board in front of him, deciding to give it his attention later. (He ignored the furtive looks Sirius' was sending over the cubicle walls.) One of the clouds that had so mysteriously appeared the previous week, floated down to sit on top of the pile of law books he'd checked out from the library downstairs. He didn't bother brushing it away.

Another little cloud floated down, this one insistently bumping against the note from Sirius, until it got all wet and the ink started to run. Remus shushed it away and rescued the note, abandoning work for the time being. (Sirius, again, looked far too pleased for it to be legal.)

It took Remus half an hour to solve the rebus. 

"Let me see if I got this right," Remus said, leaning across the wall. He'd written meticulous little notes to each component in the rebus and then written out a translation at the bottom. "The Black Palms, Godric's Hollow. Today, no later than six o'clock. Wear a funny hat," he read. 

"And twelve points go to the nerdy guy in the brown cardigan," Sirius announced.

"That's not our usual after-work drinks place," Remus said.

"No-o, but our usual place has this costume party going on tonight and I don't have a costume," Sirius told him. "Might I remind you that I don't have a costume because _you_ don't have a costume."

"I fail to see how the lack of costume on my part affects your own having-of-a-costume," Remus said, then paused, frowning. "Did that come out all weird?"

"It did," Sirius said. "And you _know_ why I don't have a costume." His voice had taken on a particularly irritating whiny quality. "We are supposed to match!"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I do actually have a costume," he told Sirius. "I'm going as Faramir."

Sirius pursed his lips, eyes narrowing at Remus. "Very well, then," he said. "I'll be Éowyn." He sat back down at his desk. 

"Éowyn?" Remus asked, perplexed. "That...doesn't make any sense?"

"Sure it does." Sirius leaned his chair back, so it balanced on two legs. 

Remus had an almost irresistible urge to give him a little poke. 

"See, James is going as Aragorn, but Aragorn doesn't have a brother and the only other match is Arwen, and naturally Lily is going as Arwen. So I'm matching you instead, and seeing as you're Faramir I'll be Éowyn."

"Not Boromir?" Remus inched closer to Sirius with the express purpose of finding a way to make Sirius topple over.

"Boromir isn't Éowyn's love interest, Faramir is," Sirius said, rather pointedly.

"Hmm," Remus said, thoughtfully. "I thought Aragorn was Éowyn's love interest. Didn't she pine after him for a while?"

Sirius sighed, shaking his head. "Moony. Éowyn's true love is Faramir. Why don't you think about that for a bit and then get back to me?"

***

Remus was late to work this particular morning because he'd stopped by to buy heaps and heaps of tinsel and red baubles and candles and a few bunches of mistletoes. He skipped the cafeteria and the strange coffees and went straight to the office.

There was no one there. 

That's a lie, people were definitely there, but Sirius' cubicle was _empty_ , which was all that really mattered. A few flicks of his wand later, and Sirius' cubicle was decked out with all the tinsel. 

A curious little cloud came puffing over to see what was going on. It bumped into the tinsel and...sniffed? Remus shook his head, but it definitely looked like the cloud was sniffing the red baubles, before taking up residence right over a twig of mistletoe. 

Perhaps he could train the clouds. Make them follow simple commands and stop making his parchment wet. Nobody had succeeded in making them go away yet, so they might as well stay.

Sirius didn't show up until past lunch, which was surprising - Remus hadn't been expecting him to show up at all. 

"Are you mad at me?" Remus asked.

Sirius grunted. The little fluffball of a rain cloud in the mistletoe shook itself and a few droplets of water fell into Sirius' hair. He looked up. 

"It's November," he said.

"And on Monday it's December," Remus said. "I didn't think you'd come in today."

"I wasn't going to." Sirius shrugged. "But I also didn't want to sit at home all day."

Remus picked up a file from his desk. "Trade you?"

"What've you got?" Sirius was already holding his hand out for the file.

"Eighteenth century hippogriff law."

Sirius withdrew his hand. "You've been coveting that one for months."

"Well." Remus shrugged. "I _am_ sorry." He thrust the file at Sirius, who only hesitated for a brief moment before taking it.

"What for?" 

"You know. For… not responding to your flirting, all that stuff."

Sirius' face fell. "Well, Moony," he said, acidly, "it would've been kinder if you'd have just let me know you're not interested. Instead of acting all clueless and driving me crazy."

"You know, Sirius, it's not that I'm not interested," Remus told him, drawing his chair closer. "Because I am. I'm very interested, I'm -"

"You're joking. If you're not interested in me, then why have you been rejecting me all this time? Making me feel like a bloody idiot?"

Dorothy, from the cubicle across from Remus, was giving them a curious look, so Remus sent a cloud at her face. 

"I'm sorry about that," he said. "I'm just not ready."

"Not ready?" Sirius demanded. "What's that supposed to mean? It's been years, Remus! _Years_!"

"I know." He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just _not ready_."

Sirius glared at him, but after a while he softened and drew in a deep breath. "Well, okay," he said, rubbing his face. "When will you be ready?" 

"I don't know. Soon?" Remus shrugged. "I'll let you know." 

"Yeah, okay." Sirius's eyes had a peculiar look to them. "So…" he started. "All this time? You've been…"

"In love with you?" Remus smiled softly. "Yeah." He turned back to his desk and his own work.

***

Remus had stopped taking tea from the cafeteria entirely, and this morning he'd acquired a cup of mint coffee. He'd started liking it and this morning the barista had put chocolate syrup in it as well.

Perhaps she was improving. Perhaps his tastebuds had been irrevocably damaged.

The clouds in the office were singing Christmas carols.

"What did you do?" Sirius was wearing a crown of tinsel, for some inexplicable reason, and looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A nervous breakdown would not be surprising in the least, Remus surmised, eyeing the crown on Sirius' head. "Remus, the clouds!"

"The clouds," Remus repeated. "Well. I don't know. Did you try to ask them to be quiet?"

Sirius' opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. Remus handed him the coffee and went over to pluck some mistletoe from the tinsel forest he'd set up in Sirius' cubicle. To his surprise, all the mistletoe was gone.

"Does anybody have any mistletoe?" he asked the office in its entirety. Everybody shook their heads. "Go get some mistletoe," he said to Sirius. "As much as you can find." 

To his credit, Sirius did not question this strange demand and swiftly left the office in pursuit of mistletoe. Remus sat by his desk, and gently poked the cloud above his head. "Move along," he said. "And be quiet for a while." 

The cloud ignored him. Remus revised his theory on the clouds being sort of like dogs; they were more like cats, really. 

Sirius returned with two huge shopping bags stuffed full with mistletoe. "There you go. Do your thing." 

Remus pulled a single twig of mistletoe out of one of the bags, and offered it to the cloud above his desk. "You can have this if you'll be quiet," he said. "This is a non-negotiable deal."

The cloud turned slightly grey. 

"Really," Remus said. "You'll have three seconds to decide before Sirius here takes all this lovely mistletoe away. One. Two -"

The cloud swooped down and snatched the twig of mistletoe from Remus' hand, and went to perch behind a ceiling lamp. It'd stopped singing, and the mistletoe was slowly, but surely, vanishing into the cloud.

"It's _eating_ it?" Sirius asked faintly. "How'd you _know_?"

"I have fantastic observational skills," Remus answered. He looked at the rest of the clouds. "Well?"

As if by agreement, all the clouds stopped singing at once. Remus patiently dealt out mistletoe to all the clouds, even the tiniest ones. That was one shopping bag gone, the other he put into a cupboard.

"There shall be _no_ rioting," Remus informed them. "Do we have a deal?"

The rain clouds tittered. 

"Good." Remus pulled his chair out. "Where's my coffee?"

"I can't believe it," Sirius muttered, picking up Remus' takeaway coffee cup from his own desk and handing it over. "You're like, the cult leader of clouds. These strange, unnatural clouds that eat _mistletoe_."

"Stranger things have happened." He leaned closer. "I kept one," he said.

"What, a cloud?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "No." He showed him where he'd hidden a twig of mistletoe in the inside pocket of his jacket. "I'm putting this up at home." He looked Sirius in the eye. "You should come over sometime."

"Moony," Sirius said carefully, as if he was afraid of Remus' mental state, " _we live together_. I'm always 'over'."

"Well, then it shouldn't be that difficult to come over, should it?" 

"So… you're saying…?"

"I'm not promising anything. I just think...this would be a nice start." Remus patted his pocket and winked at Sirius.

A smile spread over Sirius' lips. "All right, yeah. That's a nice start." 

One of the clouds followed Remus home that evening.

_The End_


End file.
